Maslenjak v. United States Oral Argument

2017-05-01T17:13:37-04:00https://images.c-span.org/Files/4d7/20170501171415003_hd.jpgThe Supreme Court heard oral argument in Maslenjak v. United States, a case on whether the government can strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship for lying during the naturalization process even if the lie was irrelevant to receiving citizenship.

Divna Maslenjak, an ethnic Serbian woman, said she faced persecution in Bosnia due to her ethnicity and because her husband avoided serving in the Bosnian Serb military. Ms. Maslenjak was granted refugee status in 1999 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. It was later discovered she lied about her husband’s service during the naturalization process. She was charged with and convicted of obtaining her citizenship illegally, her citizenship was revoked, and she and her husband were deported to Serbia.

On June 22, 2017, the Court unanimously ruled that a naturalized American citizen cannot be stripped of citizenship if a lie or omission made during naturalization was irrelevant to the government’s original granting of citizenship.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in Maslenjak v. United States, a case on whether the government can strip naturalized citizens of their…
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Maslenjak v. United States Oral ArgumentThe Supreme Court heard oral argument in Maslenjak v. United States, a case on whether the government can strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship for lying during the naturalization process even if the lie was irrelevant to receiving citizenship.

Divna Maslenjak, an ethnic Serbian woman, said she faced persecution in Bosnia due to her ethnicity and because her husband avoided serving in the Bosnian Serb military. Ms. Maslenjak was granted refugee status in 1999 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. It was later discovered she lied about her husband’s service during the naturalization process. She was charged with and convicted of obtaining her citizenship illegally, her citizenship was revoked, and she and her husband were deported to Serbia.

On June 22, 2017, the Court unanimously ruled that a naturalized American citizen cannot be stripped of citizenship if a lie or omission made during naturalization was irrelevant to the government’s original granting of citizenship. close